Project holds special meaning

Kristi Baumgardner played a video of a dark stretch of U.S. Hwy. 167 when she spoke recently to the Rotary Club of Abbeville.
The video ended in a crash.
“That would be the moment that two people lost their lives,” Baumgardner said.
One of those people was Baumgardner’s daughter, Ramsie, who died as a result of a head-on collision with an impaired driver traveling in the wrong direction on Hwy. 167. While continuing to rally against the effects of drunk driving in the four years since her death, Ramsie’s family and friends have also called for improved lighting on Hwy. 167.
That hasn’t come to fruition for the part of Hwy. 167 where Ramsie lost her life 10 days after her 18th birthday, which is between La. Hwy. 697 and La. Hwy 696, near Lurby Road. However, Baumgardner has used her abilities as a grant administrator to help the city of Abbeville bring better lighting to some areas, including part of Hwy. 167 that is within the city limits, and the project bears Ramsie’s name.
Installation on the Ramsie Baumgardner Street Lighting Upgrade began late last month. Preferred Electric, Inc., began installing new LED streetlights along the La. Hwy. 14 Bypass. Work continued at locations throughout the City of Abbeville as approximately 650 existing streetlights are replaced with modern, energy-efficient LED fixtures. The $497,325 project is funded through an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and administered through the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy. Improvements include replacing streetlights throughout Abbeville, including along U.S. Highway 167 within the city limits.
Baumgardner played a pivotal role in helping the city secure the funds. Baumgardner has worked as a grant administrator with Minvielle & Associates since 1999. This marked the first block grant Baumgardner would solely work on following the retirement of Richard Minvielle, the city’s longtime grant writer.
“This was the very first one to write and administer on my own,” Baumgardner said.
The work on the project began under the administration of former Abbeville Mayor Roslyn White, who brought up multiple fatalities along Highway 167 and the need for improved visibility in early discussions with the Department of Conservation and Energy. Baumgardner sat on those discussions, but refrained from bringing her personal tragedy to the table.
“I kept quiet because it was a professional setting,” Baumgardner said, “and I was just doing my job. However, in my mind I was asking God, please. We can’t do anything about the roadways that are not in the city limits, but if this actually happens, we can do something about the area that is.”
As the process progressed to the application for the grant and further, the project took an even greater meaning for the Baumgardner family. After receiving word the project had received a go-ahead from the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy, Baumgardner sent a personal email to the Louisiana’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program Managers sharing that one of the fatalities mentioned in their earlier discussions was her 18-year old daughter. She thanked them for their dedication to the program and for the opportunity to possibly make a difference. One of those Program Managers, Stephen Gardner, replied “Hearing the personal connection you have to this project reinforces the importance of the work we do for communities across Louisiana.” He also stated that he reached out to the city to modify the project to change the name from the City of Abbeville Street Lighting Upgrade to the Ramsie Baumgardner Street Lighting Upgrade.
“This is, by far, the most special project I have ever worked on.” Baumgardner said. “There are no words to describe what this means to me.”
What this means for the future is that someone in the path of drivers traveling in the wrong direction may have more time to react with greater visibility from the lights, she said.
“We can’t change the outcome of Ramsie’s fate,” Baumgardner said, “but by sharing Ramsie’s story, continuing our fight against drinking and driving, and through projects like this one that provide safer traveling conditions for motorists, we can honor her memory by possibly changing the outcome for someone else.
“I am incredibly thankful to the City of Abbeville for allowing me this opportunity.”